Steelers' Kenny Pickett Takes Pride In Getting Everyone Touches; Won't Look Too Far Into Preseason Success

Pittsburgh Steelers fans were either really excited to watch Kenny Pickett and the first team offense go out and play in the team's first preseason drive against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or absolutely terrified someone would get hurt or the drive be a disaster. However, the Steelers' first drive was spectacular. Pickett only got hit once and had just one incompletion while making sure the top three pass catchers on the team from 2022 had receptions.

Pickett was almost perfect against the Buccaneers on Friday night. He completed 6/7 passes for 70 yards and one touchdown pass that came on a beautifully thrown slant to George Pickens who was able to run after the catch to get the score. Pickett was able to spread the ball around as Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Diontae Johnson, and Najee Harris all had at least one reception. Pickett discussed the importance of being able to do that on the opening drive during his postgame press conference. 

"I think we accomplished what we wanted to do, go out there and get different guys touches and get a scoring drive. We kind of checked all the boxes and I think that's what we needed." 

There were a lot of questions about Johnson this offseason, especially after he failed to catch a touchdown last season. The only time he found the end zone was on a two-point conversion in Week 18. Pickett made sure he was involved as he caught three passes for 32 yards on just the one drive, which certainly made Johnson's doubters rethink their stance on the fifth-year wide receiver. 

Johnson had his second worst season statistically during 2022 after being a Pro Bowler in 2021. He caught just 86 passes for 882 yards, and of course had zero touchdowns. All of these numbers are career lows aside from his rookie year. Reporters in the postgame press conference definitely took notice of Johnson's targets on the first drive and attempts to get him involved, as he received 3/7 total looks in the passing game. They asked Pickett whether or not it was important to him to get Johnson involved early. 

"Yeah, I think all the guys. [Freiermuth] got a touch, so did Naj, obviously George scored and Tae had a couple touches. We spread the ball around well and guys made plays, which is what we were looking to do." 

The speculation throughout the 2023 offseason has been that Johnson will have a bounce back year now that Pickett is more comfortable in the offense and has more experience under his belt as he enters his second season. Not only will Pickett be a factor in the success of Johnson this season, but so will Pickens. If Pickens can take a step forward and draw more attention from the defense, it will give Johnson opportunities to take advantage of that, and vice versa. 

Pickett's improvements were on display on Friday night as he had a passer rating of 147.9 on the one drive he played. The highest passer rating a quarterback can have is 158.3, so Pickett played like an elite passer. Although he had great success Friday night, Pickett said he won't be looking too far into it since it was a preseason game. 

"I'm not gonna look too much into it. Obviously it's preseason, it's pretty vanilla football, but it was really good to go out there and score and get different guys looks on things that we've worked on. It was a good drive, not gonna look too much into it though." 

Pickett took the same approach as Head Coach Mike Tomlin did after the game Friday night, as Tomlin let the press know the team wasn't going to be patting themselves on the back and that they still had a lot of work to do. It was good to see the players get some good experience and be successful while doing so, but they aren't satisfied with preseason success. 

What did you think of the offensive approach on Friday night, Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation